


A Wonderful Life

by Boom



Series: Nogitsune Works [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: But like with blood so?????, FBI Agent Derek Hale, It's a Mystery Charlie Brown!, Meet-Cute, Nogitsune Stiles Stilinski, listen there's only so much I can do rn, road trip ish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 03:35:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28681932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Boom/pseuds/Boom
Summary: Piece two of the N!Stiles series.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Series: Nogitsune Works [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2102271
Kudos: 13





	A Wonderful Life

The first time Derek met Stiles, he was bleeding profusely.

Stiles was, that is, not Derek. He'd apparently just been mugged, knife in his abdomen not two minutes before Derek had rounded the corner with his morning coffee. And Derek, being a newly minted Agent of the FBI, freaked out and called the police. An ambulance took the boy (because Derek didn't know his name back then, only that he was tall and gangly and young with the most beautiful eyes Derek had ever seen) to the nearest hospital where he was rushed through the ER, straight into surgery and taken back to the ICU six hours later. The boy stayed there for a week before checking himself out and, hysterically enough, hunting Derek down.

That was their second meeting, on the same corner three weeks later, Stiles looking pale and fidgety as Derek turned the corner. Their eyes met and Stiles smiled and Derek suddenly knew this person, whoever he was, was going to change his life forever.

And he did.

They met again many times for coffee and a quick meal. Stiles, it turned out, was working on his master’s degree in political something something at UC Berkeley. He already had two bachelor's degrees in music and Latin studies, spoke four languages besides English (“What? Languages are easy for me, don't give me that look!”), spent a large part of his childhood bouncing around the world, and currently worked as a translator for major corporations. He was the most interesting person Derek had ever met, and in return Derek felt like a savage.

Sure he'd come from a good family upstate, but the farthest he'd been east was New York when he went to college, and the farthest south was the border visiting his mother's side of the family just over the line in Mexico. Yet Stiles kept calling him, texting him, asking him questions and laughing at his jokes. Slowly Derek was falling in love with this crazy boy and when, two years later, Stiles finished his degree, Derek couldn't fathom letting him go.

So he proposed. 

And Stiles said yes.

And for four beautiful years, they were happy.

~~~

When Derek walked in that night, Stiles was singing in Italian. He had a beautiful voice, a little rough, his accent straying more towards Spanish, but clear and loud. Derek loved Stiles voice, even when he fumbled a word, mumbled through the corrections and started over. It was how he learned, he'd told Derek very early in their relationship, he listened to the music, watched movies, read books. Derek’s favorite was Italian, because Stiles was always happy when he spoke Italian.

When he entered the kitchen Stiles turned from the stove, throwing his arms open and without missing a beat sweeping Derek into an awkward waltz around their tiny kitchen. Derek laughed, kissing his husband.

“Good day?” he asked, slowing them down so they wouldn't bump whatever Stiles was cooking. Stiles smiled, speaking in rapid Italian, his accent much better without the singing. Derek only caught one out of five words, things like _my love_ and _dinner_.

“You're making dinner?” Derek tried, looking over his husband's shoulder.

“I'm _burning_ dinner,” Stiles gave him another kiss, turning around in his arms to get back to the stove, “And I have a call with the Italian consulate for a translation at eight because fuck timezones, am I right?”

“So dinner, then translate, then maybe a movie?” Derek asked.

Stiles’ face scrunched, “My call won't be over for at least four hours.”

“I can wait.”

“You have work in the morning,” Stiles pointed out, but Derek could hear the smile in his voice.

Derek kissed his husband’s neck, then under his chin, then behind his ear for good measure. Stiles laughed, catching a kiss at the corner of Derek’s eye before shoving him away, “Go set the table or something.”

“Not a chance,” Derek replied, “I’m changing, then dinner, then call, then movie.”

Stiles said something, but Derek missed it as he shut their bathroom door behind him. He pulled on sweatpants and a t-shirt, hung his suit for the morning, picked out Stiles’ favorite tie to go with the light mint shirt that Stiles also liked, and washed his face. By the time he was done, the table was set. 

Stiles was right: he had burned dinner. Derek teased him about it, but cleaned his plate and cleared the table while Stiles went to make his call. Derek had just settled onto the couch, turned on the TV, when his cell went off.

Immediately he picked it up saying, “Hale,” just as whoever was on the other end said, “I have a lead.”

“McCall?” Derek asked, sitting up straighter.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s me, I’ve got a lead,” Scott said breathlessly, “I found a receipt!”

“A receipt,” Derek settled back into the couch.

“No, no, seriously sir it’s him I promise!”

Derek closed his eyes, “How are you sure a receipt is him?”

“It’s got Domingo’s blood on it!”

Derek could feel his frustration growing, “McCall, we’ve been over this--”

“It’s not Domingo’s receipt!” Scott interrupted, “He was the last known victim of the Nogitsune, I’ve checked all his accounts, every single one of them. This receipt doesn’t match any of them!”

“And it’s not cash?” Derek asked.

“No sir.”

“Okay,” Derek rubbed his eyes, “Where’s it to?”

“Uh,” there was shuffling on the other end of the line, “A quicky mart upstate. Beacon Hills.”

“Alright,” Derek said, considering his options, “Fine, we’ll go check it out in the morning. Good work, McCall, go home.”

“Yes sir, uh,” Scott seemed to waffle for a moment, “Sorry. For calling so late.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Derek couldn’t help smiling a little, “Good night.”

“Good night, sir.”

Derek ended the call, slumping lower in the couch with a groan. If he concentrated, he could hear Stiles in his office, speaking in rapid fire. Derek got up and made a cup of coffee. He brought it to his husband with a kiss. Stiles returned it with a short squeeze to Derek’s wrist, not missing a beat in the conversation, and Derek resigned himself to an early night.

~~~

Seven AM found Derek and his partner, Scott McCall, driving through the hills of northern California on their way to Beacon Hills, a town so small you could sneeze and miss it. Derek pulled into a gas station just as his phone rang.

“Hale,” Derek said.

“Stilinski,” Stiles replied and Derek couldn't help but smile as he climbed from the car.

“Good morning,” he said, “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Scott motioned to the convenience store and Derek nodded as Stiles answered, “Well my husband left me, so I figured I'd call my boyfriend and see what he's up to.”

Derek snorted, “He didn't pick up?”

“No,” Stiles grumbled, “Tell him I'm breaking up with him.”

“Stiles is breaking up with you,” Derek told his partner seriously as he walked back to the car, hands full of coffee, “You never answer his calls.”

“Aww,” Scott shuffled the paper cups until he got his phone, looking sadly at the screen, “He offered me pancakes.”

“Tell him he can no longer have pancakes,” Stiles ordered.

“He rescinded his offer,” Derek told Scott.

Scott's face fell further,”Aww…”

“He's heartbroken,” Derek informed Stiles, hopping back in the car.

“Good,” Stiles yawned, “Where are you two headed anyway?”

“Beacon Hills,” Derek said.

“Beacon Hills?” Stiles sounded surprised, “What's in Beacon Hills? Where is that?”

“Basically Oregon,” He replied, “Apparently there's a nice preserve out there.”

There was silence on the other end of the line, “Derek…”

“What?”

“This is another Nogitsune thing?”

Derek felt his good mood fizzle, “It's a lead.”

“A lead on a cold case,” Stiles pointed gently, “A case you haven't found a lead on in five years. For a dude who's probably dead.”

“We don't know that,” Derek defended, “He could’ve retired.”

“And you expect to find him, what, sitting on his front porch?” Stiles asked, “Just walk up and he'll tell you his whole life story?”

“Stiles,” Derek reprimanded, glancing at Scott who was finding the scenery very interesting, “This is my job. I love you. I'll talk to you when I'm back on the road.”

Stiles was quiet for a moment before responding, “I wish you'd let it go.”

“I love you,” Derek said, determinedly, “I'll call you later.”

“I love you too,” Stiles finally said. Derek hung up with a sigh.

~~~

The quicky mart, as Derek suspected, was a bust. The woman behind the counter was nice enough, smiling and flustered as she explained they didn’t keep video longer than three months, and even that was pushing it. Derek smiled anyway and bought a honey bun, tossing it to Scott when he got back to the car.

“Bust?” he asked, unwrapping the treat.

“Bust,” Derek confirmed, looking both ways before pulling into traffic, “Good find, though.”

Scott grunted, taking a big bite, “Would’ve been better if it panned out.”

Derek hummed, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel while he waited for the light, “Domingo was killed in Redding, right?”

“Palo Cedro,” Scott said, “Why?”

“We didn’t go through Palo Cedro.”

“No, but it’s right off the five,” Scott pulled out his phone, crumpling the Honey Bun wrapper with his other hand, “Route 44. We took 299.”

The light turned green. Derek eased through, seeing the little town in a new light, “This is way off the map for him.”

“Well he did run shit from Canada,” Scott reasoned, “It would have been easier to stay off the interstate in some places.”

“I wonder if he ever got picked up out here,” Derek mused.

Scott frowned, thinking, “Worth a look.”

Derek agreed.


End file.
